Easy Nativity Crafts for Kids

Ages: 3 and up (with help cutting) · Time: 30 to 45 minutes

You’ll need: our free printable nativity (color or coloring version), cardstock or printer paper, crayons or markers, scissors, a glue stick

1. Print the three pages. Cardstock stands up best.
2. Color the figures if you printed the coloring version.
3. Cut on the solid lines. Little kids can cut the straight edges while a grown-up does the corners.
4. Fold each figure on the dashed line so it stands like a tent. A dab of glue at the bottom keeps it from opening.
5. Fold the stable’s two sides forward and set the figures inside.

Ages: 5 and up · Time: 1 to 2 hours, plus drying

You’ll need: wooden peg dolls or old-fashioned clothespins (the round kind, not the spring kind), acrylic craft paint or markers, felt or fabric scraps, yarn, white glue, a fine-tip black marker

1. Paint the clothes first: blue for Mary, brown for Joseph, white for the angel, bright colors for the Wise Men. Let it dry.
2. Add the skin color on the head, then dot eyes and a small smile with the fine-tip marker.
3. Glue on a felt cloak, a headscarf or a little crown cut from yellow felt or paper.
4. For Baby Jesus, wrap a tiny peg or a cork in a scrap of white fabric and lay it in a matchbox manger with some yarn for hay.
5. For sheep, wrap a clothespin in white yarn or glue on cotton balls.

Ages: 3 and up · Time: 45 minutes to 1 hour

You’ll need: empty toilet paper rolls, construction paper, glue stick, markers, cotton balls, yarn or pipe cleaners

1. Wrap each roll in colored paper and glue it down: this is the body.
2. Draw a face near the top, or glue on a circle of skin-colored paper.
3. Add a headscarf, a crown, a staff from a pipe cleaner, or paper wings for the angel.
4. Cut one roll in half for Baby Jesus. Lay it on its side in a little box with shredded paper.
5. Glue cotton balls on a short roll for a sheep.

Ages: 4 and up · Time: 30 minutes

You’ll need: a shoebox or brown paper grocery bag, craft sticks or twigs, glue, shredded paper or dry grass, brown marker or paint

1. Stand the shoebox on its long side so the open top faces you.
2. Glue craft sticks or twigs across the top for a roof, or fold a piece of cardboard into a peaked roof.
3. Color the inside walls with brown marker lines so they look like boards.
4. Scatter shredded paper or dry grass on the floor for hay.
5. Cut a star from yellow paper and tape it above the roof.

Ages: 4 and up (a grown-up handles the oven) · Time: 1 hour, plus baking or drying

You’ll need: 2 cups flour, 1 cup salt, about ¾ cup warm water, a baking sheet, a toothpick, acrylic paint, clear sealer such as Mod Podge (optional)

1. Mix the flour and salt, then add the water a little at a time until the dough is smooth and not sticky.
2. Shape simple figures: a cone for the body, a ball for the head, a flat oval for the manger. Keep them chunky, about 2 to 3 inches tall, so they don’t break.
3. Use the toothpick to draw a veil, a beard or the folds of a robe.
4. Bake at 250°F for 2 to 3 hours, until hard (thicker pieces take longer), or let them air-dry for 2 or 3 days.
5. When they’re cool, paint them. A coat of clear sealer helps them last.

Ages: 3 and up · Time: 20 minutes

You’ll need: a paper plate, crayons or markers, scissors, tape or glue, a little yellow paper or a gold pipe cleaner

1. Cut the plate in half. Roll one half into a cone and tape it: that’s the robe.
2. Cut wings from the other half and glue them to the back of the cone.
3. Draw a face on a small paper circle and glue it to the top.
4. Bend a gold pipe cleaner into a halo and tape it behind the head.

Ages: 5 and up · Time: 30 minutes, plus drying

You’ll need: 6 craft sticks, white glue, yellow paint or gold glitter glue, string

1. Glue three sticks into a triangle. Make a second triangle.
2. Lay one triangle upside down on the other to make a six-point star, and glue where they cross.
3. Paint it yellow or add gold glitter glue. Let it dry.
4. Tie on a string and hang it above your nativity.

Ages: 6 and up · Time: 45 minutes

You’ll need: 10 craft sticks or bamboo skewers (snip the sharp tips), glue or small rubber bands, tissue paper in two colors, scissors, a glue stick

1. Make two five-point stars from five sticks each, overlapping and gluing the ends.
2. Glue tissue paper over one side of each star and trim the edges.
3. Glue the two stars back to back.
4. Add strips of tissue paper to the two lower points as tails.

• Prep first. Cut the hard shapes and set out supplies before the kids sit down.
• Cover the table with newspaper or an old tablecloth, and keep wipes nearby.
• Let it be theirs. A purple Joseph or a sheep with five legs is fine. They’ll remember making it.
• Safety: a grown-up handles the oven, the hot glue gun and sharp scissors. Keep small parts away from children under 3.
• Tell the story as you go. Who is this? Why is the baby in a manger? Who told the shepherds? Our Christmas story for kids is a short read-aloud version.